Anna Riphahn is shown holding her award-winning book, "The Timekeeper," in this October 1997 file photograph.--File'Anna was so full of life'

Wreck kills author, injures four teens

By KEVIN BATES, MIKE HALL and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH

The Capital-Journal

Topeka lost one of its brightest young stars Monday.

Anna Leigh Riphahn, 17, a Topeka High School junior and award-winning children's book author, died Monday morning in a Des Moines, Iowa, hospital, a few hours after she was injured in a pre-dawn two-vehicle collision on Interstate 35 about 20 miles south of Des Moines. She and four friends were returning from a Billy Joel concert in Chicago.

Riphahn, who wrote and illustrated her first published book at 13, was a passenger in a 1982 Ford Crown Victoria that was struck by a 1997 Chevrolet pickup that crossed the narrow median after the truck hit a deer in the opposite lanes, authorities said.

Jessica Buntain, 19, and Mary Harrison, 18, were listed in serious condition in a Des Moines hospital. Eric Daniels, 18, was listed in fair condition, and Zacory Boatright, 18, was treated and released from the same hospital. All had graduated from Topeka High in May.

Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Dave Garrison said the driver of the northbound pickup truck unsuccessfully swerved to the left to avoid a deer near the Truro interchange about 5:40 a.m. The pickup hit the deer, crossed the grassy median and struck the southbound sedan, driven by Buntain.

The driver of the pickup, identified as Ronald DeLong, 37, Woodburn, Iowa, apparently was unhurt, the patrol said.

News of Riphahn's death circulated through Topeka High on Monday afternoon as principal Patty Pressman's strained voice made the official announcement to the entire student body.

As she walked back to her office, Pressman stopped and held the hand of a sobbing student. After hearing the news about 10 a.m., Pressman said she already had had some time to cry.

"Anna was so full of life," Pressman said.

When Riphahn was 13, she wrote and illustrated the children's book "The Timekeeper." In its first two years, "The Timekeeper" had become a top seller and reached the 10,000-copy mark.

As an eighth-grader at Jardine Middle School, Riphahn won first place in the 1995 national "Written and Illustrated By" contest, which led to publication of her book. In 1991 she had placed third in the contest, and in 1992, she won second with a second book.

Riphahn also loved art, as shown by a closetful of her supplies in Pressman's office.

In the school's entryway, an unfinished painting by Riphahn of the Topeka High tower covers the back of a display box. It features winners of the Tower Award, which is awarded to outstanding students in different subject areas.

"She was so excited about the painting," Pressman said. "She said, "I'll be able to leave my footprint at Topeka High.' We're going to leave it up unfinished. Even unfinished it looks wonderful."

Riphahn's works, along with those of other classmates, had been displayed in the Topeka High Student Art Gallery. Art teachers removed the works of other classmates Monday and moved Riphahn's paintings to the west wall. Among the works was a self-portrait of Riphahn, depicting herself with a paintbrush tucked behind her ear.

Riphahn had attended an art course at the Chicago Art Institute this summer and was laboring over preparing an art portfolio to apply for colleges.

Mike Titus' senior government class filed through the art exhibit shortly after Pressman's announcement to the student body. Many of their faces were stained with tears, and several held each other.

"She didn't deserve this," one student said as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Titus said lesson plans had been scrapped Monday, and for the initial moments of class students talked about Riphahn. The class was already smaller than usual, he said, because some were talking to counselors or had left for the day.

"I let them guide me where they wanted to go," he said. "It was a difficult lesson, even more important than a lesson you learn from a book. It's so unfortunate. It's part of the puzzle of life that no one is ever able to fully understand or able to comprehend."

Peggy Nitchals, a junior at Topeka High, said Riphahn always talked about the little things in life that made it good.

"She called them her little angels," Nitchals said. "She never said it was ironic. She said it was God. She had a passion for God, and she loved to praise and worship. She's definitely in heaven. There's no doubt in my mind."

Beth Frazier, Topeka High junior, recalled Riphahn's creativity.

"She could take nothing and make it beautiful," she said.

Riphahn, a regular at PT's Caffe & Roasterie at Barrington Village, soon became an employee there.

"She lived there," Nitchals said. "She did a lot of drawing there."

She had used classmates to model for artwork, and the most recent book she was working on was about a black family.

Julie Riphahn, Anna's mother, said Monday the family learned of the accident when one of the other parents called Anna's father, Bill Riphahn, at home about 8 a.m. The Riphahns weren't called directly by Iowa officials because their daughter's identity wasn't immediately determined.

The Riphahns said information they received about the accident was sketchy, but they were told the truck had sheared off the car's rear door, near where Riphahn was sitting in the middle of the back seat. Riphahn and the others were wearing seat belts, her parents said, but they said the collision tore the seat belts away.

Riphahn's head struck the pavement when she was thrown from the car and she probably was brain-dead instantly, Julie Riphahn said. Riphahn's organs were donated for transplants.

In 1997, Riphahn designed a logo for a Volunteer Center of Topeka promotion. At the announcement, Riphahn recalled her drive to become an artist.

She credited her first-grade teacher, Darlene Harvey, for encouraging her artistic talent. She said Harvey predicted she could make good use of that talent when she grew up.

"Frankly, I didn't want to wait until I grew up," Riphahn said. "That sounded like a long time to me."